Residents consider nursing home

Published 1:00 am, Wednesday, June 21, 2006

NEW MILFORD - Lisa Alexander wants to protect the Wellsville Avenue neighborhood as a safe place for families by limiting commercial development.

She said she hopes she and her neighbors can influence what is built in an area now composed of older, single or multi-family houses and a 188-unit condominium complex.

Their particular focus is on a 4.6-acre parcel on the corner of Wellsville and Wells Road now zoned as industrial/commercial.

On Saturday more than a dozen neighbors met with representatives of a New York City-based assisted living facility for senior citizens with Alzheimer's disease and dementia.

Alexander said there was enthusiasm for what they heard.

"We felt very positive about this as an alternative,'' Alexander said of the presentation by
MMR Associates
, which suggested a gated campus-type setting with between 60 and 68 units arranged in two- to three-story buildings.

"Not only as an alternative for what could be there, but as something very positive for New Milford. This company is doing good things for seniors, and would be bringing in a business to New Milford.''

Last fall a New York City developer wanted to build a 10-store strip mall and a four-story storage facility on the property.

Since that time, though, the neighbors have worked with town officials and met with representatives of Wellsville DoneDeal to find alternatives for the property.

The assisted living facility would require a zone change. Residents have long suggested that having an industrial/commercial zone in the midst of a middle-class neighborhood doesn't make any sense.

Longtime Wellsville neighbor
Ron Olson
said it sounds like a "noble enterprise," but he cautioned residents to be wary.

Wellsville DoneDeal proposed the strip mall and storage facility because it expected to make a considerable profit from the investment. Any deal it makes will need to be likewise financially advantageous, Olson said.

Olson advised the neighbors to be sure that what they are told is "what they get. I'm skeptical by nature, but I have reason to be," he said.

MMR chief operating officer
Jeanette Perlman
, of Sherman, said the company would like to build something that would blend with the neighborhood architecture and residential atmosphere. Traffic would not increase significantly, and the residents would pose no threat, she said.

One of the other positives about this potential for the Wellsville DoneDeal property is that the contact with MRR came through the developer's attorney,
Stevens Bliss
, Alexander said.

MMR officials have met once with DoneDeal officials and are scheduled to meet again later this week.

"We're crossing our fingers that a deal can be worked out that is a win/win for everybody,'' Alexander said.